In Newington Monday, Catheryne Montano woke up to a call from her sister in Florida. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake had struck Colombia, her sister told her, and the apartment building of her sister’s mother-in-law was destroyed.
Montano started making calls, first to her little brother Elías.
“But he wasn't answering. I called my mother-in-law. She didn't answer. My sister-in-law didn't answer. My brother's wife didn't answer,” Montano said. “That’s when the panic set in.”
Montano heard back from Elías later that morning. She said he was standing in the window frame of his balcony in Cali when the earthquake hit.
“He said to me, ‘Caty, all I could say was Blood of Christ, protect me,’” Montano said.
Montano didn’t hear back from her mother-in-law until Tuesday morning, she said. As of Wednesday, five other family members are still unaccounted for in the Chocó department, one of the hardest hit areas.
Montano describes the feeling of not knowing what’s going on while living a continent away as “frustration mixed with a panic attack.” She said she couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for those that suffered a worse outcome.
“While I was chopping vegetables for a salad, I started to cry.” Montano said. “I was thinking, ‘My God, here we are about to eat, glory to God, but how many families right now don't have the means?’”
So, Montano turned to her local community in the Greater Hartford area. She is the vice president of the committee of Colombianos Unidos en Connecticut.
The committee is urging the public to provide aid through official channels, like the Colombian Red Cross, to ensure any and all donations arrive to those in need through authorized means. Montano said they are making this call in accordance with the Colombian Consulate in New York.
‘All eyes on Latin America’
María Mercedes Liévano was on a video call with her 8-year-old son and husband Monday when the earthquake hit Colombia’s western region.
“They were out on the street taking my son to my parents' place, and right while we were talking, the earthquake started,” Mercedes Liévano said. “Cars started to move, other cars began honking, and my son was trying to understand what was going on.”
Mercedes Liévano is the country director for Colombia with Save the Children, a humanitarian organization in Fairfield.
When the earthquake hit Colombia, she was in Caracas, Venezuela, helping the ongoing recovery efforts there from its two earthquakes back in June. Mercedes Liévano said families are still living in makeshift camps, pregnant women are struggling to find medical care, and mental health resources are insufficient.
“Right now, we need all eyes on Latina America,” Mercedes Liévano said. “We need all eyes [and] international cooperation for Venezuela and for Colombia.”
Mercedes Liévano flew back to Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, Wednesday.
“It was deeply distressing, because, as you will surely understand, we are all, as a region, profoundly shocked by what happened in Venezuela,” Mercedes Liévano said.
She said in Colombia, there is still chaos and uncertainty among the collapsed homes and health facilities.
“Patients are being taken care of in parking lots,” Mercedes Liévano said. “Some of my team has been directly also impacted by the earthquake. Some of them suffered severe damages at their homes.”
Diana Gutiérrez de Piñeres Botero is the Colombia country director for Americares, a disaster relief and development nonprofit in Stamford. She felt the tremors in her office in Bogotá, about 150 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.
“There's a lot of unmet need for access to water and sanitation. There are no showers, for example,” Gutiérrez de Piñeres said. “Imagine shelters with approximately 200 people. Only two bathrooms.”
Americares deployed a team to help hard-hit areas like Cali, Pereira, Armenia, and Manizales, Gutiérrez de Piñeres said. Currently, they’re focused on providing aid to healthcare facilities that are over capacity, after over 80 health centers collapsed, she said.
Contributing ‘our little grain of sand’
Paola Garcia said she feels sad and angry that she can’t do very much to help her home country while living in Stamford, but she’s still going to try as the director of BFAmericas, a dance studio that organizes Colombian celebrations in the city.
“We are organizing a dance class,” Garcia said. “The proceeds will go toward sending aid not only to Colombia but also to Venezuela, as they have recently experienced a similar situation.”
The dance studio is also collecting essential items to send to Colombia this Saturday, she said, including first-aid supplies, hygiene products, feminine care products, diapers, and wet wipes. Next week, she said they’ll be collecting clothing.
“From here, abroad, we are contributing our little grain of sand [doing our part to help],” Garcia said.
The earthquake struck on the heels of Colombia’s new president being sworn in. Garcia says it presents a formidable challenge for him and an angle of political debate.
“We have certainly seen a lot of divided opinions regarding the new president's policies,” Garcia said, “but I feel that right now we need to focus on standing united as Colombians, to put our differences and squabbles aside… so we can rebuild as a country and as a community.”
Learn more
Colombianos Unidos en CT will be providing updates on how to provide aid on its Instagram and Facebook pages.
They are inviting the Colombian and general public to a Vigil of Reparation at the Maria Reina de la Paz Parish in Hartford to pray for Colombia on Friday, August 14 at 8 p.m.
Emergency fund donations can be made to Save the Children and Americares online.
The BFA Dance Studio is accepting donations at 100 Greyrock Place in Stamford and at 38 Saw Mill Road in West Haven.
The dance class fundraiser is taking place Friday, August 21 at 6 p.m. at the BFA Dance Studio in Stamford. Tickets are $25, with all proceeds going to Colombia and Venezuela.
